


I Love You to the Moon and Back

by MagicalPixie



Category: Borderlands (Video Games)
Genre: Autistic Athena, Canon-Typical Violence, Crush at First Sight, During Canon, F/F, Minor Character Death, Pining, The moon is a gays only event, because I'm autistic and i said so
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-28
Updated: 2020-02-12
Packaged: 2021-02-27 11:48:55
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 9,883
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22446670
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MagicalPixie/pseuds/MagicalPixie
Summary: Nisha turned to face Athena, a grin on her face and her cheeks flushed with excitement. “I’ve never been off planet before,” she confided. “Reckon there’ll be lots of cool things to kill up there?”Her enthusiasm was… actually kind of cute. It actually took Athena a moment to stop thinking about how cute it was and process the fact that she was expected to respond to Nisha’s question.“Yeah,” she replied, almost hastily, “I imagine so.”---Nisha and Athena are the only Vault Hunters Jack hires, and Athena has a huge crush on the companion who is the opposite of her in so many ways.
Relationships: Athena/Nisha (Borderlands)
Comments: 6
Kudos: 19





	1. Chapter 1

The scarf over her face was the only barrier between her and the dust as Athena drove through the Pandoran wastes. 

_It’s just another job_ , she thought. _Go to the moon, find a Vault, get paid. No need to drag it out any longer than necessary_. Her new employer ⎯ Jack, was it? He sounded like a self-important tool, but he paid well and that was what mattered. 

Glancing at her map, Athena realized that she was almost at the meeting point. There was one other prospective Vault Hunter she’d be working with, or so she had been informed. She didn’t know much more than that, and she didn’t care to find out yet. They’d have plenty of time to get acquainted on the job. All that would be important to know was that they wouldn’t get in her way too much, but that was hardly something they would mention during introductions. 

It was with that mindset that Athena arrived at the rocket that was to take her to Helios. She killed the engine of her beaten-up runner, hopped out, and then made her way to the rocket. As she walked on board, she tugged her scarf off of her face, leaving it resting around her neck. 

The other person was already on board. Curious to see who else Jack had cobbled together for this job, Athena took a closer look at them. What she saw was... a bored-looking brown woman in a cowgirl outfit. She was lounging sideways on her chair and examining her nails, but upon hearing Athena enter, she looked up and tipped her hat slightly.

“Name’s Nisha,” the woman said.

“Athena.”

“Pleasure. You know where the pilot is? I hate waiting around.”

“Nope.”

“Damn…” Nisha scowled slightly and went back to looking at her nails. 

_Nisha, huh?_ Athena didn’t allow her gaze to linger on her before heading to her seat, but the urge was there. It wasn’t often you met a pretty face on Pandora, and if Nisha had been hired to hunt a vault with her, she must be more than just pretty. Maybe in another life, she’d have liked to get to know Nisha better. 

But, as Athena sat down in one of the empty seats in the rocket, her training quickly pushed those thoughts aside. There was no room for attraction in an assassin’s life. If something were to happen in the thick of battle, she had to be able to think rationally to ensure the optimal outcome. Attraction, love… Those were luxuries she couldn’t afford to indulge in. 

“Hello, travelers!” The annoyingly cheerful voice came seemingly out of nowhere, causing Athena to tense in surprise. She whipped around in her seat to see… a Claptrap unit? 

“I see you have both answered Jack’s summons and are ready to depart! But please, allow me to introduce myself! My official designation is CL4P-TP, but you may call me by my colloquial name: Claptrap!” 

Athena stared dumbfoundedly while the robot continued to ramble excitedly. 

“I shall be your pilot/co-worker/companion/unexpected dear friend! Please-“

“Oh my god, SHUT. UP.” Nisha loudly interrupted. “You are SO ANNOYING.”

“Okay!” said Claptrap in the same cheerful tone of voice, before doing a twirl and starting to dance quietly. 

“Stop dancing.” said Nisha through gritted teeth, “You’re our pilot, right? Are we going to Helios or not?”

“Of course we are! I was, uh… I was just stretching my piloting muscles!”

Claptrap pushed his antenna back sheepishly and hopped into the last empty seat. 

“Buckle up! It’s time to blast off!” 

“ _Finally_ ,” said Nisha, the relief noticeable in her voice. 

The two Vault Hunters strapped themselves into their seats while Claptrap messed around with the rocket’s controls. After smacking the interface several times (which caused a worrying number of sparks), the engine whirred to life and the countdown initiated. Claptrap gave them a thumbs up and then hopped into his seat. 

The rocket accelerated forwards abruptly, causing Athena to lurch backwards in her chair. _Jack must have used up his budget hiring us, if this is the kind of rocket he arranged,_ Athena thought with irritation. The rocket continued picking up speed as it sped toward the ramp that would send them up into space. 

The rocket reached its top speed just as it approached the ramp. The vehicle’s structure creaked and groaned under the pressure as its momentum was redirected upwards, then they were barrelling up the ramp ⎯ and then they were airborne. 

Nisha turned to face Athena, a grin on her face and her cheeks flushed with excitement. “I’ve never been off planet before,” she confided. “Reckon there’ll be lots of cool things to kill up there?” 

Her enthusiasm was… actually kind of cute. It actually took Athena a moment to stop thinking about how cute it was and process the fact that she was expected to respond to Nisha’s question. 

“Yeah,” she replied, almost hastily, “I imagine so.”

“Awesome,” said Nisha, more to herself. Athena watched as she pulled a pistol out of its holster and started playing with it, practicing spinning it around on her finger. 

The lull in conversation drew Athena’s attention to her state of mind. She noticed that her arms and legs were tensed. Her heartbeat was elevated, too. 

Athena’s hands instinctively went to wrap her scarf over her head; most importantly over the lower half of her face. She closed her eyes for a moment and allowed the familiar scent of the scarf to envelop her senses, letting out a breath of relief as her body relaxed. The weight of the dark fabric on her head was just present enough to ground her and soothe what she now recognized must have been stress or anxiety. With her stress gone, Athena’s mind felt clearer than before.

And not a moment too soon.

A series of loud clangs came from behind them. Athena spun around in her seat, her hand already on her sword. 

Bandits. They must have somehow climbed on board before takeoff, and now they had managed to get inside. Quickly analyzing the situation, Athena estimated that there were about half a dozen. She hastily took off the safety straps that were keeping her fastened to her seat, cursing the fact that she hadn’t thought to undo them earlier. 

By the time the bandits jumped down from the ceiling of the rocket where they entered, Athena was up and ready to fight. Years of muscle memory enabled her to, within a split second, reach over her shoulder, grab Aspis from its holder on her back, and raise the shield up to block some incoming fire. The bandits’ bullets clattered uselessly against her shield and fell to the ground.

From her initial scan of the group of bandits, she knew their leader was very likely the one at the far end of the ship. Calculating the angle as she wound back her throwing arm, Athena tossed Aspis like a deadly frisbee. It hurtled through the air on a curved trajectory, avoiding the enemies on the front line and heading instead for their leader. 

He didn’t even have time to scream before his head was severed from his body in one slice, the shield’s spiked edges making quick work of the makeshift leather armour he was wearing. Athena raised her arm and caught Aspis easily as it returned to her. 

Not to be outdone, Nisha drew her double Jakobs pistols with a flourish. She fired at the bandits in front, taking out the rest of them within a span of only a few seconds. 

“Best shot on Pandora!” she crowed, a manic grin on her face. 

The bandit corpses fell to the ground with a series of thuds and, for a moment, everything was calm.

Suddenly, an alarm started blaring. The lights began flashing red. 

A synthetic voice came over the speakers, “Warning: incoming missile. Impact imminent. Prepare for your inevitable death.” 

Everything happened so quickly after that. 

The floor heaved under Athena’s feet as a thunderous explosion rocked the ship. She thought she heard panicked yells from Nisha and Claptrap, but it was impossible to discern voices with all the noise from the rocket’s alarms. All she knew for sure was that they had been hit⎯ and they were hurtling far too fast toward Helios. 

But before she could grab the nearest object for support, the rocket lurched underneath her, sending her flying into the wall. A sharp pain blossomed in her skull from the impact, then everything faded to black.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Nisha deserves a girlfriend ok? Also, I've always wanted to write something where Athena is explicitly autistic because like, come on. She's definitely autistic.


	2. Chapter 2

When Athena awoke, she was lying, winded, on the cold metal floor. Her head was pounding, almost like it was about to split in two. Clenching her jaw against the pain, Athena hauled herself to her feet and scanned her surroundings, but not before raising Aspis defensively, just in case.

The first thing she noticed was the blaring of alarms. They echoed throughout the cavernous, crate-filled area their rocket had crashed into. “CARGO BAY 06” read the large letters on the wall. _We’re on Helios… Looks like the ship’s navigation system did its job, even after being hit_ , thought Athena with some relief. With worse luck, they could have ended up in an unfinished part of the station without oxygen, or worse, missed Helios altogether and barrelled into the depths of space. Cargo Bay 06 was a fine landing spot in comparison.

Having established their relative location, Athena did a quick sweep for threats. The only other moving things in the area were a couple of terrified looking Loader Bots, one of which was cowering in a huddled pile on the floor, the other which was trying fruitlessly to escape the area through a locked door. 

There didn’t appear to be any immediate threat, she concluded, but looking down, she saw that her companion had suffered a similar fate to hers. Nisha was lying on the ground, looking battered but alive. They had been lucky to survive a crash like that, Athena mused, but judging by the continued sound of alarms going off on Helios, they weren’t out of the woods just yet. 

Speaking of survival… Claptrap was lying in a puddle of his own oil, sparking occasionally. With no grief, Athena decided to cut her losses and leave him to die. One less Claptrap in the world could only be a good thing, and she wasn’t about to waste time looking for a repair kit when all this Claptrap had done for her was crash-land the rocket and give her a splitting headache. And not necessarily in that order. 

“Oh, hell…”

The pained groan came from Nisha, who was stirring on the ground. Athena offered her a hand, which Nisha gladly accepted. The contact when their hands met made Athena’s heart race, but she didn’t let it show. Instead, she settled for a curt check-up.

“You OK?” asked Athena, not bothering to add intonation to the words. She was already expending valuable energy speaking the words, there was no need to use more just to soften them. 

“Alive? Yeah. OK? Not so much,” Nisha managed as she got to her feet. “I don’t think anything’s broken, at least,” she added.

“Alive is what I was looking for,” replied Athena, “Any injuries can be dealt with later, once we find a med vendor.” 

Nisha grunted in agreement then began to dust herself off. She hid it well, but Athena detected a wince of pain from Nisha when she adjusted her shirt. _Bruised ribs, most likely_ , she thought. It was to be expected after a crash like that, and it wasn’t as if Nisha was wearing any sort of protective armour like her. 

“So, this is Helios, right?” asked Nisha, glancing around. “We should find Jack, and find out who the hell shot us down.”

“Good thinking,” said Athena with a nod. Nisha may not be professionally trained like her, but she had good instincts, Athena would give her that much. “I’ll see if I can Echo him.”

Athena took out her Echo device and placed a call to Jack. After a few tense seconds of silence, he answered.

“Hey, uh, Vault Hunters? I could use some help over here! Some psycho Dahl forces are attacking the station and I don’t think I can hide from them much longer!” 

“Jack, this is Athena. Our rocket was hit on our way here, but we made it to Helios. Where are you?” 

“Yeah, yeah, I’ll Echo you my location, just hurry up and get over here! I don’t fancy being shot today.” 

With that, the call disconnected. Athena grit her teeth in frustration. This Jack guy really got on her nerves, but a job was a job, and she didn’t have much choice other than to get it done. 

“What an asshole,” commented Nisha, echoing Athena’s thoughts. “He could’ve at least asked if we were hurt.” 

“I don’t think he cares,” Athena replied matter-of-factly. “Come on, let’s get moving.” 

Nisha nodded, then followed Athena as she led the way through the cargo bay and toward Jack’s location as marked on her Echo’s map. 

“Be sharp,” Athena cautioned her teammate, “Dahl forces could be anywhere.”

Nisha grinned at that. “Good,” she said, “I’d love to pay them back for what they did to our ship.” 

That grin made Athena’s heart skip a beat, and she cursed herself for it. This was no time to be swooning over women, she reminded herself sternly, pointedly redirecting her focus to her surroundings and searching for any sign of enemy movement. But she did so with a slightly lighter heart than before. 

As they approached the cargo bay exit, the sound of gunfire made Athena and Nisha pause. 

“This is it,” said Nisha, her face flushed with excitement and her pistols at the ready. “You ready?” 

“You bet,” replied Athena as she drew her sword, Aspis already held firmly in her off-hand. “Let’s go.” 

The two moved through the doorway quickly and quietly. Taking a rapid survey of the room, Athena saw at least ten Dahl soldiers firing at helpless Loader Bots. She didn’t see the point of them attacking unarmed bots, but that would be their final mistake. Under the cover of the sounds of gunfire, the soldiers didn’t hear Athena and Nisha coming until they were already upon them. 

Athena made quick work of the two closest soldiers, carving into them with the expert precision of a trained assassin and leaving their corpses lifeless on the ground. Meanwhile, Nisha fired off a number of rounds with her pistols, taking care of several men across the room. 

As she scanned the room for any more enemies, Athena noticed one soldier come out from his cover behind some containers and take aim at Nisha. Automatically, Athena charged between Nisha and the soldier, and not a moment too soon. The bullets impacted Athena’s shield, falling to the ground without having hit their intended target. 

The soldier moved to duck back behind the containers, but Nisha, having noticed what was going on, was faster. She spun to face him and, with two quick pulls of the trigger, the soldier was hit once in the chest and once in the head, and he fell to the ground; dead. 

“Thanks for the assist!” called Nisha amidst the commotion. 

“Don’t mention it,” Athena replied.

They cleared out the remaining handful of soldiers without incident, and in no time they were back on the move, making their way through Helios toward Jack’s location. 

“Help, lots of help!” The familiar voice came not from Athena’s Echo, but from the room ahead. Jack was in trouble, and if he died they weren’t getting paid. Athena and Nisha exchanged concerned glances and then sprinted through the door. 

They emerged into what appeared to be another cargo bay, this one with a large security terminal in the centre. In front of that terminal was a man Athena recognized to be Jack, and he was surrounded by Dahl troops. Before they had time to react, a soldier punched Jack squarely in the jaw, knocking him to the ground. The remaining soldiers then gathered around him in a circle and started kicking him.

While a part of her felt viscerally satisfied seeing Jack getting beaten up, the rational part of her knew it wasn’t getting her any closer to her paycheque. 

Calculating the angle in an instant, Athena threw Aspis in one smooth motion. It spun like a saw blade as it hurtled through the air toward one of the soldiers, then it impacted with the sickening rip of torn flesh into his torso. His shriek pierced the air as he was knocked onto the ground by the force behind the throw, and he lay there next to Jack, bleeding out. 

“Holy jeez!” Jack yelped, covering his head as the other soldiers hurriedly began returning fire. 

Athena, left without her shield, ducked behind the railing for some minimal cover and hurriedly pulled out her assault rifle. 

At the same time, Nisha, having used Athena’s attack as a distraction, had snuck around the line of fire and gotten into position to fire off some shots from another angle, taking out one of the Dahl soldiers in the process. The two remaining troops looked around frantically, trying to discern where the gunfire had come from. This gave Athena the opportunity she needed. Without wasting any time, she vaulted over the railing and opened fire with her assault rifle, downing the two men within seconds. 

“That’s the last of them for now!” Athena called over to Nisha, who holstered her pistols and jogged over to join her. 

“We make a pretty good team, eh?” said Nisha, nudging Athena with an elbow. “Those assholes didn’t stand a chance.”

“I agree,” Athena said shortly, focusing on suppressing the smile Nisha’s words threatened to elicit from her. 

“No need to get too sappy,” Nisha teased. “You don’t emote much, huh?” The second sentence was spoken curiously, not maliciously at all.

“Emotions are unnecessary,” Athena responded automatically, her assassin’s training taking the lead, “There’s no room for emotion on the battlefield.”

Nisha laughed at that. “You’re precious, you know that?”

“I, uh… Thank you?” Athena stammered, caught off guard by the compliment. _Keep it together, Athena_ , she scolded herself, _You can’t keep letting your feelings control you like this_. 

Nisha just laughed again. But before she could respond, their attention was brought back to their injured employer.

“Hello? Could you help me up?” Jack asked, his voice strained with pain. “It’s no big deal or anything, y’know, I’m just the guy who hired you. But no, no, if you have important things to talk about, I can just lie here and… try to stop my internal organs from rupturing. I’ll make a day of it!” 

Jack clearly wasn’t going to shut up until they patched him up, so Athena tuned out his ramblings as best as she could and looked around the immediate area until she spotted a first aid kit. She opened it up and found a healing syringe in among the bandages. She grabbed the syringe and then returned to Jack, who was still rambling at a bemused Nisha.

“Sorry, am I being passive-aggressive right now? My bad, must be a symptom of almost dying…” He trailed off as Athena returned with the syringe. 

Not bothering to warn him, Athena injected the healing solution into Jack’s arm. The medicine acted quickly, and within seconds she was able to help him stand up.

“Holy crap, you saved my life!” Jack exclaimed, stumbling to his feet and clumsily dusting himself off. He was clearly still high on adrenaline, which wasn’t surprising. He was just a programmer after all, so this was likely the first real fight he’d ever been in. 

Suddenly, a voice came over the speakers. 

“Attention, residents of Helios,” the voice said, “I am Colonel Zarpedon. I’m sorry for what I must do, but know that I do it only because thousands of lives are at stake.” 

Nisha made a face. “Who’s the crazy chick?” she asked Jack.

“She leads these jackasses, I think?” Jack replied, “I don’t know, but whoever shoots her in the head gets a high-five and a turbo-mansion. Now come on, let’s get out of here before more of them show up!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you're enjoying so far! The next chapter will take a while, but I figured I'd post this one since it's done.


	3. Chapter 3

Leaving Helios… it got messy. 

After saving Jack he’d tried to activate some of the Hyperion defence turrets, but the request had been blocked by some sort of jamming signal originating from Elpis. 

Unable to defend themselves, the three of them had rushed to the escape ships, but Zarpedon had gotten there first. Piloting a large mech, she shot the escape ships down, rendering them unusable. In the end, the three of them barely escaped the emergency bay with their skins intact. 

The only remaining way off Helios station was a risky one: the Moonshot Cannon. But things got complicated, as they often do. Since the controls for the Cannon had been damaged, likely in a firefight, one of them had needed to stay behind to launch the pod manually. Jack, fancying himself to be some kind of hero, volunteered. 

And so Nisha and Athena crowded into the Moonshot container that was not at all built for human cargo, and watched nervously as Jack launched them toward their destination: Concordia, the largest settlement on Elpis. They had no way of knowing whether they would survive the journey, so all they could do was stare out the window as Elpis rapidly approached. The surface of the moon hurtled toward them faster and faster and then — impact. 

* * *

For the second time that day, Athena awoke lying on the ground with a spectacularly painful headache. Instinctively, she reached for her scarf and pulled it to her face, taking several deep inhales of the soothing scent. The smell helped to settle her rattled nerves, allowing her to slowly get to her feet. The shuffling noises behind her indicated that Nisha was doing the same. 

“Never should’ve taken this job…” Nisha muttered, her voice thick with pain.

Athena looked over at her companion with concern. Nisha looked about as bad as Athena felt, her hair a mess and bruises all over. Before she had a chance to ask how Nisha was feeling, however, an accented cheery voice came through the local channel on her Echo.

“Hello? Thought you might be salvage. You’re about to die!” 

“What —” Athena began to ask, but she was quickly cut off by the stranger outside.

“ _ Don’t _ answer, conserve your oxygen. My name’s Janey Springs. As soon as you open the container, all the oxygen’s gonna vent and you’re gonna suffocate. I’ve got a camp nearby, it’s your best bet if you want to get out of this alive. I’ll lead the way whenever you’re ready. Sound good? Don’t answer that.”

Athena looked helplessly at Nisha, who just shrugged. It wasn’t as if they had much of a choice other than to trust this Janey Springs person. This clearly wasn’t Concordia, and if Janey was to be believed, they had landed somewhere with no breathable air. Not only that, but there was only so much oxygen in the (thankfully airtight) container, so the clock was ticking. 

With the time limit in the forefront of her mind, Athena took action. Not wanting to speak and use up precious oxygen, she silently put a hand on the latch on the container door. Looking at Nisha, she began a wordless countdown with her free hand. 

3… 2… 1…

Taking a deep breath, Athena unsealed the container door. Without the latch holding it in place, the door shot open, pushed by the force of the air inside rushing out into the vacuum of space. The gale was actually strong enough that it lifted her and Nisha off their feet and, barely holding onto their breath, they went tumbling outside onto the hard, rocky surface of Elpis. 

“Come on then!” A blonde woman dressed like a mechanic, whose voice Athena recognized as Janey’s, quickly helped them to their feet. “Let’s get you two to some air!” 

Athena couldn’t say she remembered much from the mad dash to Janey’s camp that ensued. All she could recall was an all-consuming burning in her air-starved lungs and her vision fading in and out as she frantically pursued her only beacon of survival: Janey Springs. Her arms and legs had felt like stone, but she’d forced herself to keep running, no matter what. Her very life had depended on it. 

By some miracle, they made it to Janey’s camp at an abandoned comms facility alive. Coughing and gasping, Athena fell to her hands and knees as all the strength left her body; adrenaline could only carry one so far. She was vaguely aware of Nisha collapsing next to her in a similar fashion, but with her head spinning from oxygen deprivation and her chest heaving, all she could do was gasp for air for a good few minutes. 

After giving the two Vault Hunters some time to catch their breath, Janey broke the silence. 

“Phew! That was a close one!” she said. “Good thing I found you two, eh? My name’s Janey Springs, as I mentioned earlier. I’m a junk dealer. Who’re you?”

“Nisha,” Nisha managed. As if suddenly remembering she was on the ground, she got to her feet. Athena, still winded but not wanting to appear weak, followed suit. 

“The outlaw bandit killer? I’ve heard of you! And who’s the lovely lady you have with you?” Janey asked, looking at Athena with interest. 

“Athena,” replied Athena. Even if she wasn’t still catching her breath, she would have left it at that. Introductions were tedious things, best gotten over with as quickly as possible. 

“Well, hello,” Janey responded with a small smile. Her tone of voice was odd, to Athena it almost sounded like she was flirting with her. 

Athena dismissed the idea. It was highly unlikely that anyone would be attracted to her, and even if Janey  _ was _ hitting on her, she couldn’t let something as trivial as romance interfere with her mission. 

But even as that thought crossed her mind, she felt a pang in her stomach. If it had been Nisha talking to her like that, Athena didn’t know how she’d react. If Nisha was interested in her… She could feel her face heating up just at the thought. Fiery, gorgeous, and a damn good shot with a pistol, Nisha was whittling away at the walls Athena had worked so hard to build around her heart. She hated to admit it, but there was no use in denying it. She would just have to strategize around this… unexpected new weakness of hers. 

“What’re you two doing here anyways?” Janey asked curiously. “It’s not often we see new faces on Elpis.” 

“We’re looking for some kind of jamming signal,” said Nisha, “It’s screwing with Hyperion’s defences up on Helios. Maybe you could help us out?”

“A jamming signal?” Janey thought for a moment, then shook her head. “I don’t think I’ve heard anything about that, sorry. Tell you what, though. I have a couple broken O2 Kits, Oz Kits we call ‘em, stashed around here somewhere. How’s about you two spend the night here and I’ll get them fixed up for you by morning?” 

Athena raised her eyebrows. “That’s generous of you,” she commented. “What will we owe you?” 

It was then they learned that Janey was actually stranded in this desolate part of Elpis. Someone called Deadlift had stolen the Digistruct Key for her “Moon Zoomy” stations, leaving her with no vehicles to take her to Concordia. The deal was simple: in return for her saving Athena and Nisha’s lives, they would end Deadlift’s life. Without Janey’s Moon Zoomy stations in operation it would be impossible for the Vault Hunters to reach their original destination of Concordia, so they agreed to help Janey recover her Digistruct Key. 

In noticeably lighter spirits now that she had their help, Janey led Nisha and Athena further inside the abandoned comms facility to the room where she’d made a sort of makeshift sleeping area. There weren’t any blankets, nothing that luxurious. It was really just a pile of old cushions that looked as if they had been scavenged from various chairs around the facility. Athena and Nisha each grabbed a cushion to act as a pillow, then settled down to go to sleep. Janey wished them goodnight, turned off the lights and left, presumably to go tinker with the Oz Kits she’d mentioned earlier. 

Hours later, Athena stared up at the ceiling above her makeshift bed, her scarf draped loosely over the lower half of her face. After the day she’d had, she should have been passed out by now. Instead, her mind was fixated on one thing, or rather, one person: Nisha. 

Athena sighed and rolled over. She had trained for years as an Atlas assassin, and for what? For one pretty face to undo it all? 

The starlight filtered through the barred windows of the room, gently illuminating Nisha’s features. Despite herself, Athena found herself enraptured by her companion’s sleeping face. Nisha looked so peaceful, a far cry from how fired up she had looked throughout the past day. Her hair had fallen over her eyes and for a moment Athena wanted to reach out and gently brush it aside. She stopped herself though, as her mind returned to reality. 

Nisha was her co-worker. A fellow Vault Hunter. They weren’t even friends yet — were they? She had to be tired if she was entertaining thoughts like that. It didn’t matter whether or not they were friends, it only mattered whether they could complete their job. Athena took one last look at Nisha’s sleeping form, then rolled over onto her other side and firmly closed her eyes. 

Sleep. She needed sleep, that was all. 

It took a while, but finally Athena drifted off, letting her exhaustion from the day prior overtake her. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Athena doesn't have time for your "being able to read people" nonsense, she has yearning to do!


	4. Chapter 4

Janey had fixed the Oz Kits by morning, just as she’d promised. 

“Just put it on your back,” she instructed as she handed them out, “As soon as it detects that there’s no breathable air, it’ll project an oxygen mask over your face for you.”

Athena nodded in thanks and put on her Oz Kit. It attached securely in place on her shoulder armour. 

“Come on, let’s get going,” said Nisha impatiently. “We could be killing stuff right now.” 

“Right,” replied Athena, all business. Before she started to leave, though, she turned back to face Janey. “Thanks,” Athena said awkwardly, “For the Oz Kits and the place to sleep. We appreciate it.” 

“Hey, don’t mention it! Just kill that Deadlift asshole and we’ll call it even,” Janey responded earnestly. “Oh, right! Before you go, could I get your number? Y’know, to keep in contact while you’re gone.”

“Of course,” said Athena, recognizing the strategic need to stay in touch. Janey was practically a client after all. She handed her Echo device to Janey, who eagerly copied Athena’s number into her Echo, then handed it back to her. 

With that, they were off. Janey waved as they left, calling out after them, “I’ll call you, Athena!” 

After exiting the camp, Athena consulted her Echo’s map for the coordinates Janey had marked earlier. She was interrupted, however, by an amused snort from Nisha. 

“Is something the matter?” asked Athena, confused. 

“That Janey girl is head over heels for you, huh?” Nisha commented, nudging Athena companionably with an elbow. 

“She’s- What?” Athena stammered, caught by surprise. “What makes you say that?” 

“You’re kidding, right?” asked Nisha incredulously. “She’s been making eyes at you since yesterday! She even asked for your number! It doesn’t get more obvious than that.” 

“I…” Athena began, then stopped. She  _ had _ noticed Janey was acting strangely during introductions yesterday. But “making eyes”? She hadn’t noticed anything like that, whatever it meant for one to be “making eyes” at someone. And as for her number, it only made sense that they would stay in contact while she completed a job for Janey. Although, it was strange that she hadn’t asked for Nisha’s number as well...

“It’s not important,” Athena decided. “If you’re right and if she makes it into a problem, I’ll deal with it then.” 

“Damn, that’s cold,” Nisha remarked. “Normally I’d agree with you, but this Janey kid seems sweet. Why not humour her for a while?” 

_ Because she’s not you,  _ Athena’s mind supplied, but she hurriedly pushed that thought out of her head. “Come on, we should get going,” she said instead, thankful that her voice, monotone as always, didn’t betray her inner turmoil. Without waiting for a response, she started off towards their destination, setting a brisk pace that left Nisha jogging to catch up. 

* * *

  
  


The low gravity on Elpis took some getting used to, that was for sure. It was off-putting, the way that even running felt different than it did on Pandora, let alone jumping or dodging. It hadn’t been as noticeable when they were just walking around in Janey’s camp, but now that they were out among the kraggons, they had to adapt to the difference in gravity if they wanted to keep all their limbs intact. 

The two of them fought their way past several hordes of kraggons, working seamlessly as a team to rout the rugged creatures. Nisha, always in the back, would fire off several rounds from her pistols, catching the creatures’ attention. Then Athena would charge, Aspis raised and her sword drawn, redirecting the kraggons’ focus to her as she carved a bloody path through their numbers. Deflecting their attacks easily with her shield, Athena would give Nisha the opportunity she needed to pick off several more kraggons without getting so much as a scratch on herself. On the occasion that one charged at Nisha she would jump out of the way, soaring into the air due to the low gravity, and slam down on the creature’s back to finish it off with a crack from her handy whip. 

As they approached Deadlift’s base, Athena got an incoming call from Janey. Remembering what Nisha had said earlier about Janey having feelings for her, she answered somewhat nervously. Managing her own feelings for Nisha was proving to be hard enough, and now she had to navigate around Janey’s feelings too? This mission was proving to be much harder than it had sounded back when she accepted the job.  _ Vaults have nothing on this _ , she thought bitterly. 

“Hey there, Athena.” Now that Athena was listening for it, that was almost certainly a flirtatious overtone in Janey’s voice. “How’re you managing so far?” 

“Fine. We’re nearly at Deadlift’s location,” Athena answered briskly. “Anything we should watch for?” 

“Hmm? Oh, right. Deadlift.” Janey sounded a bit put out. “Well, you’ll have to use a jump pad to get to his ship, there should be one right by the entrance.” 

Nisha perked up at the mention of jump pads. “You guys have jump pads here?” she asked, grabbing Athena’s Echo right out of her hands. Athena protested, but her heart wasn’t in it. In fact, she had to pull up her scarf to hide a fond smile at how excited Nisha was. 

“Yeah, we do!” Janey responded, “They’re a blast! You do have to be careful though, you never know where you’ll land when you use ‘em.” 

“We don’t need to be careful,” scoffed Nisha, “We’re Vault Hunters. We just need to kick ass.” 

“Ha! That’s the spirit!” Janey laughed. “Call me when you’ve killed Deadlift’s dumb ass.” With that, she hung up. 

The area around Deadlift’s ship was crawling with scavengers, or “scavs” as Janey called them. Athena and Nisha tore their way through their ranks, leaving the scavs’ corpses littered about like so much trash. 

Finally, the pair of Vault Hunters reached the entrance to Deadlift’s ship. There was a jump pad there, just like Janey said. What she’d neglected to mention was that the jump pad was required in order to cross the massive, lava-filled crack in the ground between them and the ship. Athena paused, uncertain. There would be no coming back if they fell into a chasm that deep. Nisha, however, appeared to have no such qualms. Seeing that Athena wasn’t going to cross first, she rushed past her and eagerly hopped onto the jump pad. 

“Yee-haw!” Nisha shouted as she was launched across the gap, clutching onto her hat so it wouldn’t fall off. 

Athena watched for a moment, her heart pounding as Nisha hurtled through the air. Then, seeing that Nisha was on track to land safely on the other side, she steeled her nerves and leapt onto the jump pad after her. 

“Yeah!” Athena couldn’t help the adrenaline-fuelled yell that escaped her as she was hurled into the air by the jump pad. She’d never experienced anything quite like it, with the combination of the jump pad and the low gravity it was about as close to flying as anyone could get without a jetpack. The trip across the chasm only took a few seconds though, and before Athena knew it, it was over. She hit the ground, landing with a thud next to Nisha on the ramp leading into the ship. 

“I enjoyed that,” Athena said breathlessly, a faint smile touching her face. 

Nisha laughed. “So you do show emotions sometimes, huh?” she teased. 

Athena, not sure how to respond to that, just pulled up her scarf and took a few breaths of the familiar scent. She felt her heart rate start to return to normal as the smell flooded her senses, bringing her back to equilibrium. 

If Nisha thought that was strange, she didn’t show it. “You ready to kill a guy?” she asked, eager for a fight. 

Athena nodded, then followed Nisha as she led the way into the ship. 

The inside of the ship was several stories high, with a number of jump pads on each level. A massive person on the third story, fully decked-out in a spacesuit, turned to face them as they entered. 

“What’re you doing on my turf, Vaulters?” he bellowed. 

This had to be Deadlift, then. Athena pulled out her assault rifle and opened fire, not waiting for Deadlift to make the first move. His bullet shield absorbed any damage she might have done, though, and her attack only served to make him angry. 

“You’ll pay for that!” Deadlift hollered, then, to Athena’s confusion, he rushed out of sight.

“After him!” Nisha shouted, the bloodlust already plain in her eyes. Not wasting any time, she leapt onto a jump pad and flew up several floors. 

Athena hesitated. She wasn’t keen on rushing into battle without knowing what Deadlift was up to. But she didn’t want to let Nisha run into a fight alone, either. With a sigh, she ended up following suit, hopping onto a different jump pad. It launched her forwards and up, onto the floor Deadlift had been on. There, she saw Deadlift at a nearby console, hammering wildly on the machine. 

Athena only had a second to panic as the floor under her feet lit up blue, then her nerves were on fire with pain. Her body tensed painfully and she thought she heard a shriek coming from her own mouth, but it was hard to tell with her senses fading in and out as she threatened to pass out from the intensity of the pain. 

“Athena!” Was that… Nisha? “Get away from her, you sick bastard!” Athena could barely process the words, could barely process anything except the acrid smell of burning flesh —  _ her _ burning flesh — and the ever-constant searing pain. Were those… gunshots? It was impossible to be certain. 

An eternity later, the floor’s angry blue glow faded, and Athena collapsed in a heap on the ground. The darkness that covered her vision was warm and inviting, and she gratefully began to slip away into it. 

“You’re not done yet! Focus on the pain!” 

Athena opened her eyes a crack, gritting her teeth against the pain, and there was Nisha, covered in blood and holding a used healing syringe in her hand. Her face was twisted with worry as she grabbed Athena’s hand and tugged her to her feet. Athena gasped. While she could feel the healing solution beginning to take effect, her entire body was still alight with pain. Upon being pulled upright, she immediately collapsed into Nisha’s arms, her body still too weak to support itself. 

“Easy, easy!” Nisha’s voice cut through the pain-filled fog in Athena’s mind. “Come on, let’s get you somewhere safe.”

Draping Athena’s arm over her shoulders and supporting her weight the best she could, Nisha carefully guided Athena further into the ship. Every step was agony but Athena, who was slowly regaining her senses, wearily recognized that it was important that they didn’t stick around to see if any scavs would show up. 

Finally, they made it to the back of the ship, far enough away from the entrance that it would take a while for anyone to find them. Nisha half-carried Athena over to the wall and then gingerly guided her down into a sitting position. Athena leaned her head back against the wall, the cool metal soothing her burnt skin. After a few tense minutes of silence, Athena spoke.

“What... happened?” she managed, “Did you kill Deadlift?” 

“He’s dead,” Nisha confirmed. Her voice was odd and, in her current state, Athena couldn’t place what the emotion was behind it. But it was the words that were important, anyway.

Athena sighed with relief. So they hadn’t failed their mission, at least. But something else was bothering her. How had she gone down so quickly? How could she have left Nisha to fight Deadlift alone? Athena lowered her head in shame. 

“Thank you... for saving me.” The words pained her to say, but she had to get them out. “I’m in your debt.”

“Hey, look at me,” Nisha said. Athena reluctantly lifted her gaze, looking Nisha in the eye. The eye contact felt intimate, like Nisha was looking directly into her heart. It sent a jolt of anxiety to her stomach, but Nisha just smiled reassuringly, unaware of Athena’s discomfort. “You would’ve done the same for me, yeah? Don’t worry about it.” Nisha looked away for a moment then, seeming to brace herself, turned back to face Athena and said, “It was my fault anyways. For jumping in so quickly.”

Athena felt like she was supposed to protest, but she couldn’t bring herself to lie. Nisha  _ had _ been foolish to charge in guns blazing before they knew what they were dealing with. 

“Be more careful next time,” she said eventually, looking away. In the brief time they’d been working together (Had it really only been a couple days?), Athena had already grown so attached to Nisha that she couldn’t bring herself to be mad at her. The thought scared Athena a bit. It wasn’t like her to be so captivated by a woman that her judgement was impaired. But here she was, forgiving Nisha in an instant after she’d nearly gotten Athena killed. And, as she accepted Nisha’s hand to help her up, she couldn’t find herself regretting it. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading to the end of the chapter! I know this was a longer one. Hope you're enjoying!


	5. Chapter 5

“Found it!”

Athena paused in her own search to look over at Nisha and, sure enough, there in her hand was the Digistruct Key they’d been sent to retrieve. 

“Good work,” said Athena. Now they could get out of this damned ship and finally be on their way to Concordia. 

“You sure you’re OK?” Nisha’s voice had a note of concern in it. “You went down pretty hard earlier.”

“I’m fine,” Athena responded curtly. “Let’s just get going.”

Thanks to the prompt health needle Nisha had given her, Athena had recovered quickly. Her skin still stung from the electrical burns she’d received, but it was nowhere near the level of pain she had been in before. Still, she knew she had to get some real rest soon. Even with the help of the medicine, recovering from injuries as severe as the ones she’d suffered would take a lot of energy. But for now, she would just have to push through it. 

_Just keep going until we get to Concordia,_ Athena thought to herself. _Then you can rest up._

“Alright,” Nisha sounded unconvinced, but was apparently unwilling to push the issue. “Let’s get this thing back to Springs then,” she said as she put the Digistruct Key away in her bag. 

A wave of embarrassment filled Athena’s chest as they left the ship in silence. Nisha no doubt saw her as weak for having gone down so quickly. Why else would she be checking up on her? She had to see Athena as a liability now. The logical part of Athena knew that she shouldn’t be this concerned about what Nisha thought of her abilities, but the emotional part of her was in turmoil. She didn’t quite know _what_ she wanted Nisha to think of her, but she definitely didn’t want her pity, or worse, her resentment. 

Athena shook her head slightly to clear her thoughts. Focus. She needed to focus on the job. But how was she supposed to focus on anything when Nisha had her by the heart and didn’t even know it? 

The two of them continued looping back toward Janey’s camp, taking out kraggons and scavs along the way. All the while, Athena’s mind was elsewhere, allowing her instincts and training to take over during the fights while she focused on trying to figure out what her next move regarding Nisha should be. Trying to hide her feelings was working so far, but how long could she keep it up? She had a sense that their mission was still far from done. Could she really act like nothing was happening the whole time? Athena wasn’t so sure, especially since her runaway feelings were already interfering with her performance. 

_I’ll just have to manage_ , Athena decided firmly. There wasn’t much else she could do. After all, even if Nisha liked her too, what would they do then? A relationship would only distract them from their mission. No, it would be better to just wait it out. Put her head down, finish the job, and return to Pandora. Satisfied with that answer, Athena was able to return her focus to the task at hand. 

* * *

  
  


Using the Digistruct Key, Nisha and Athena had been able to activate a Moon Zoomy station not too far from Deadlift’s ship and digistruct a moon buggy that could take them back to Janey’s camp much quicker than if they’d gone on foot. Nisha volunteered to drive, much to Athena’s relief. The fatigue from her injuries was catching up with her and, as much as she didn’t want to admit it, she would have had a difficult time focusing on driving. 

They stopped by Janey’s camp to let her know they’d killed Deadlift and were heading to Concordia next. They offered Janey a ride there, but Janey politely declined, saying that she had some things to pack up and that she would meet them there. So Nisha and Athena hopped back into their moon buggy and, after a short drive, made it at last to the city of Concordia. 

According to Jack, there was a former Hyperion employee there who would be able to help them find the location of the jamming signal that was messing up Helios’ defenses. The man, who called himself “the Meriff,” sounded like he’d be even more of a tool than Jack himself, but he was likely better than nothing. 

Unfortunately, it turned out that “nothing” was exactly what they were going to get from the Meriff. When Nisha and Athena arrived at his office, they found that it was closed to visitors. With no other options available, they followed Jack’s directions and headed to the Up Over Bar. He supposedly had another contact, the owner of the bar, who might be willing to help them find the jamming signal. 

That contact turned out to be none other than Mad Moxxi, someone Athena knew from her time on Pandora. 

Nisha looked unimpressed when she spotted her. “Our contact is a slutty clown?” she asked in disbelief. 

Athena frowned. Moxxi wouldn’t be likely to help them if Nisha was just going to insult her. Reluctantly, she decided she had better do the talking this time. 

“I know her. Let me handle this,” Athena said. 

“Whatever,” Nisha muttered, “I’m at least getting a drink then.”

With that, the two Vault Hunters made their way to Moxxi, who was working the counter at the back of the room. 

“Hey, Athena,” Moxxi greeted Athena as she and Nisha approached the bar, her voice raised above the dance music that was playing. “Who’s your friend?”

“Hello again, Moxxi. This is Nisha. We’re working for Jack, he said you’d be able to help us find a jamming signal.” Athena got right to business. She was exhausted at this point, so she wanted to get Moxxi’s help quickly so they could find somewhere to rest for the night.

“You’re working for Jack, huh?” Moxxi said, the disdain plain on her face. “Figures he’d be asking for my help even after we broke up.”

Athena shuffled her feet uncomfortably. Jack hadn’t mentioned that Moxxi was his ex. More feelings for her to navigate could only mean trouble, so Athena decided to cut to the chase. 

“Will you help us or not?” she asked bluntly. 

Moxxi narrowed her eyes. “I’ll help, but tell Jack once this is done, we’re square.” 

“Deal.”

“Good. Now, I have work to do right now, but I’m all yours tomorrow. Do you two have anywhere to stay tonight?” 

Moxxi, as it turned out, had a few rooms above the bar she was willing to rent out to them. Athena gratefully agreed, even if they were a little pricey for her taste. She was starting to feel a bit dizzy at this point, and the loud music in the bar was grating on her nerves. 

Athena turned to Nisha to tell her she was heading to bed, only to find that her companion had wandered off at some point during her conversation. Remembering that Nisha had mentioned getting a drink, Athena scanned the tables for her and sure enough, there was Nisha at a table across the room. Athena started to walk toward her, then stopped abruptly when she noticed that Nisha wasn’t drinking alone. 

Who was that man with Nisha? Athena examined him critically. He was heavily scarred and all muscles, your typical all-brawn, no-brains type. Athena watched, unsure how to approach them without interrupting. Then, her blood turned to ice as Nisha leaned forward and whispered something in the man’s ear that made him grin idly. 

Rooted to the spot in shock, Athena could only stare as they continued flirting. She only snapped out of her daze when she noticed the tears beginning to well in her eyes. So that’s how it was going to be, was it? Cloaking her despair in icy fury, Athena stormed across the room toward them. Nisha and the man turned to face her with surprise as she slammed the key to Nisha’s room onto the table.

“I’m going to bed,” Athena announced. “Have fun with your new friend.” She knew the hurt was showing through her voice, but she didn’t care. Before Nisha could even respond, she was gone, rushing up the stairs to her new room. 

She only allowed the tears to start falling once the door was closed and locked, and she hugged herself tightly as she sat on the bed and silently cried. 

_Stupid, stupid,_ Athena scolded herself. _Did you think Nisha would put her life on hold while you nursed your little crush?_

She let out a quiet sob at that because yes, she kind of did. It hadn’t even occurred to her that Nisha might become interested in someone else. In all her careful deliberations, she hadn’t thought to predict what Nisha might do around other people. But why _wouldn’t_ she pursue other people? It wasn’t as if Athena had given her any reason to be interested in her. 

_I need to get a grip,_ Athena thought desperately, wiping the tears from her eyes, _I need to calm down and think about what to do the next time I see her._

Athena couldn’t even imagine how she’d be able to face Nisha tomorrow, not after her little outburst downstairs. Not when she could still see Nisha flirting with that stranger in her mind’s eye. 

A knock on her door interrupted her anguished thoughts. 

“Athena?” The voice was Nisha’s.

Athena hurriedly composed herself as she crossed the room to open the door. She willed her expression to be blank as she answered. 

“Yes?” Athena deadpanned. God, even the sight of Nisha in her doorway was enough to send a pain through her heart. 

Nisha huffed. “Don’t you ‘yes’ me,” she said with annoyance, “What’s going on with you? You were acting weirder than usual just now.” 

She sounded angry, and the thought that Nisha was mad at her was almost enough to start Athena crying again. Something must have shown on her face, because Nisha’s expression softened. 

“Look, I’m worried about you, OK?” Nisha admitted after a moment, to Athena’s surprise. “I know you said you were fine, but I _saw_ how badly that electric floor hurt you and… I just want to make sure you’re really OK.” 

The electric floor? So Nisha thought this was about her injuries… Athena didn’t know which was worse, Nisha thinking she was weak or Nisha knowing just how compromised Athena was by her crush. 

“How are your burns?” Nisha continued, “Let me see.”

Nisha actually reached out and took Athena’s hand then, and Athena panicked at the rush of adrenaline the simple touch caused her. 

“I don’t need your pity!” Athena spat as she yanked her hand away, her heart pounding. 

“What is your _problem_?” Nisha asked exasperatedly, “I’m just worried about you!”

“You! You are my problem!” The words came out before Athena could stop them. 

Nisha gaped at her. “What…?” she began, then she scowled and crossed her arms over her chest. “If you hate me that much, I’ll just leave then!” 

No, no! This couldn’t be happening. How could she make Nisha understand? In that moment, there was only one way Athena could think to do it.

Before Nisha could turn and leave, Athena grabbed her by the jacket and crushed their lips together in a frantic kiss, a kiss filled with all of her pent-up feelings for her. She was trembling from nerves, elation, and exhaustion when she finally pulled away a couple seconds later, unable to look Nisha in the face as she realized what she’d done. 

“I am so sorry,” Athena apologized immediately, her voice shaking and her face no doubt turning red as she took a step back. “I shouldn’t have done that.” She could barely believe she had lost control like that, even as she still felt her lips tingling from the contact. Tears threatened at the corners of her eyes as it occurred to her that she had likely just messed up their partnership beyond repair.

“Okay, not where I was expecting that to go,” Nisha said slowly. 

“I’m so sorry,” Athena repeated, almost like a broken record. “I… I need to be alone now.” She went to close the door, then, but she was stopped by a firm hand on her forearm. The touch startled Athena enough that she finally looked up at Nisha who, to her surprise, had the beginnings of a smile playing around the corners of her mouth. 

“Not so fast,” Nisha said. Athena couldn’t quite understand her tone of voice, but she didn’t look upset, at least. “We need to talk about this. Now.”

Athena swallowed nervously. Her mind was telling her to run, to hide, to never show her face in front of Nisha again. But she had been the one to lose control, to kiss Nisha without warning. Athena knew she at least owed her an explanation. 

“I don’t hate you,” Athena said hesitantly. 

Nisha actually laughed at that, making Athena’s face burn with embarrassment. “Yeah, I gathered that much. God, you’re just too precious.” 

Wait, what?

Nisha continued, stepping forward into Athena’s personal space as she spoke, “See, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t interested in… whatever this is.”

_That wasn’t a rejection,_ Athena thought, her heart racing. 

Then Athena’s brain short-circuited as Nisha leaned forward, and then she was kissing her again and it was all Athena could do to remember how to breathe, nevermind forming any coherent thoughts. The kiss seemed to last a lifetime and when Nisha eventually pulled away, Athena’s head was spinning. 

“You’ve got it bad for me, huh?” Nisha remarked, her lips curled upwards in a smile as she noticed Athena’s dazed expression. “No wonder you got so jealous downstairs.”

Athena’s stomach twisted as she remembered Nisha’s flirting from earlier. Was Nisha just toying with her? She wouldn’t have been hitting on random strangers if she liked Athena… Would she?

“Who was he?” asked Athena, hating how unsure she sounded. This emotional business was all so foreign to her, and she had no way of knowing what the right thing was to say. 

Seeming to take pity on her, Nisha answered without any teasing this time. “Him? He’s just some guy. I don’t think I even caught his name,” she admitted. 

Athena let out a quiet sigh of relief. So, he was no one after all. But that still left one question…

“And what does that make us?” As soon as the words left her mouth, Athena felt like she had crossed some sort of unspoken boundary. She watched anxiously as Nisha hesitated, looking away. 

“Let’s just see how this goes for a while, yeah?” Nisha answered after a pause, “We don’t have to put a name on it yet.” 

“Of course,” replied Athena, her heart sinking. She had half-expected Nisha to commit to being in a relationship right away, but it looked like that wasn’t to be the case. 

As the adrenaline began to ebb from her system, Athena swayed a bit on her feet. Her body and mind had been through a lot that day, and she was feeling the consequences of it in full force now. Nisha put a hand on Athena’s shoulder to steady her, and looked at her with concern.

“You should get some rest,” she said firmly, “I don’t want you passing out on me again.” 

“Right.” Athena wanted to protest, but she knew Nisha was right. “I’ll see you in the morning, then,” she said awkwardly, not really sure how she should talk to Nisha now that she knew about Athena’s feelings for her. 

“‘Night,” Nisha said fondly. Then she was gone, closing the door behind her. 

Staggering over to her bed, Athena’s heart was racing. Half of her still couldn’t believe what had just happened, while the other half was filled with stunned delight. But even her excitement at that evening’s events couldn’t keep her tired body from falling asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow.


End file.
